“Medical Professionals, What’s A Fact About Human Health You Think Everyone Should Know?” (30 Answers)
If there's anyone people can count on on the internet, it's medical professionals.
In 2021, Ipsos asked people from 28 countries how much they trust different professions, and doctors came out on top with an average reliability rating of 64%, ahead of scientists (61%), and teachers (55%).
So if their word is good in real life, it should be solid online, too.
Recently, people working in healthcare have been developing a thread sharing simple advice on how everyone can look after themselves in everyday life. Here are some of the most popular submissions from their conversation.
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Death is not the worst thing possible. Being tortured with every available option to stay alive while you rot in a bed is worse than death. Stop keeping someone alive who has no QUALITY of life just because you can't let them go. Not being able to move, eat, communicate, etc is not good quality of life. It's cruel and selfish to make your loved ones suffer like that.
If you’re not taking steps to prevent pregnancy and you’re sexually active then you are trying to get pregnant. Applies to both men and women. Be responsible.
Psychologist here. I wish everyone who was sad didn’t call themselves depressed. Or wanting things neat and tidy and calling it OCD. These terms refer to real diagnoses, not moods or quirks.
Ditto PTSD when you're affected by something upsetting or scary. These diagnoses are for when symptoms are PATHOLOGICAL - NOT a normal part of the human condition, and significantly disruptive to life. It's normal to be sad, to like things neat and clean (or to be messy!), to be upset or on edge after an incident (PTSD is diagnosed when symptoms are present after about a year has passed, btw - that's what is meant by 'post-traumatic'). It's not normal for them to impact functioning.
Drink water when thirsty. No soft drinks, no juice. Just plain water.
In addition: Give water to your kids, because if they regularly get soft drinks when feeling thirsty, you are conditioning them into connecting thirst with soft drinks. These are the people that will say: I don’t like water, water doesn’t taste good….
A large proportion of possible health and dietary issues can be prevented by just stick to this simple rule. This of course excludes special dietary needs, but in general it’s a good thing. .
Getting a water filter helps. The bad taste of water is usually caused by the chlorine and mineral content. My spine doctor told me to drink lots of water because that is the only thing that slows the deterioration of the spinal discs. When we sleep, the discs absorb moisture from the surrounding tissue. (They do not have a blood supply. God screwed up when he "designed" the spine.)
Paramedic.
The things that can kill you and the things you can survive constantly amaze me. I've seen people survive a bullet through the head and walk into my fire station after they recovered. I saw a guy that shot himself in the chest and head and was able to shake it off and manage to get the gun and take a third shot to finish the job. I've seen people survive crazy amounts of trauma in car wrecks. I survived getting shot with buckshot, I saw a guy shot in the neck with a shotgun and every pellet missed anything vital.
I've also seen people die from an injury that penetrated less than an inch into someone's arm. Death from falling backwards and hitting their head. From a single punch, from a bullet that hit them in the butt and penetrated about an inch according to the xray. And don't forget that a lethal heart attack or stroke is caused by a piece of plaque around the size of a pencil point. People have an aneurysm in their head right now and don't know it.
The line between alive and dead is unimaginably thin.
Because I haven't seen it yet: basic women's anatomy. I can't begin to tell yall how often I've met other women that don't know that we don't pee out of our vaginas. I even had a friend in high school that came and got me because she thought she was dying. She'd gotten her first period, and her ultra fundie Southern Baptist mother had never told her about periods. So there I was, explaining the birds and the bees to a fifteen year old peer in a crappy high school bathroom. No surprise, she thought we peed out of "the front hole" too.
If I could add a second fact to this: it's OK to seek mental healthcare, there is nothing to be ashamed of! You are worth it, and you are loved!
My Grandma said to my Mam, "One day, you are going to find blood on your knickers. When that happens, come to me, and I'll give you something for it." My poor Mam lived in dread. She thought she was going to die. When my Mam was teaching, the 'Dr White nurses' came to her school, and my Mam sat in on the lessons in health, reproduction etc. Mam was married at this point. She vowed any children she had would always understand puberty, bodily changes and reproduction. She did a good, but basic job. I was able to give my children a far greater understanding. Their friends came to my children when they needed to have more information. I'm proud of my children.
Not a doctor or surgeon or whatever but worked at a pharmacy
DOSE MAKES POISON. Stop overusing medication. Follow the instructions on the goddamn bottle. "But it doesnt do enough" talk with a pharmacist or your doctor. Most people have no idea how their meds work and think just taking more will lead to better results. This can kill you in some cases, and worse - ruin your organs in others. For the love of God stop f*****g around with meds. It won't be fun for anyone when you find out.
Sleeping less than 5 hours a day increases risk of heart disease by 75% and shortens your lifespan. It also increases risk of alzheimer’s disease & dementia in general. So sleep well lads.
Smoking is bad for you. It will likely shorten your life and decrease the quality of your life. It smells terrible even if you don’t think you smell or “I only smoke outside.” And it will never be easier to quit than it is today.
Also smoking doesn't just negatively impact the lungs, but the entire body.
If you go to a hospital and expect 4-5 surgeons to be the ones actually taking care of you or running a code THINK AGAIN. Medical shows really be giving a false narrative of doctors and I feel the ones who are performing most of the skills and patient care are often looked down upon in real life. BE NICE TO YOUR NURSES, YOUR NURSE AIDS, RT, TECHS, PT, OT, etc.
There always seems to be one mean grumpy head nurse in a hospital. They have seen it all and are so tired of every patient being a whiner.They are overworked. When they get to that point of zero compassion, they should leave the nursing field.
Breathing deeply through your nose releases nitric oxide which is a natural vasodilator (it opens up your vessels) and can help reduce blood pressure.
When you're tempted to cry during times of stress, let it out. Cortisol (the body's stress hormone) is released in those tears and your body releases oxytocin and endorphins (feel good hormones). You're literally venting your stress and decreasing emotional and physical pain by doing so.
Empty your bladder when you feel the need to go. Don't delay it too often.
Interesting, as I've been told it's sometimes helpful to hold on to retrain an over sensitive bladder. I guess it depends on the individual?
Dentist…. A tooth infection can kill you.
Yeah, I went from a sore tooth to slipping in and out of consciousness within a 24 hour period. Within 48 hours, it was septic. Fortunately a root canal + IV antibiotics kept me alive (72 hours after things started hurting, I felt fine). But infections from teeth can kill...and they can kill *really* quickly.
Strength training is so important for both men *and* women.
It doesn't matter how you do it, staying strong across middle and old age is immense beneficial. Physically and mentally.
Strength training can be your body weight and/or with resistance bands, it doesn't require actual weights like the photo. I know the photos don't match on Bored Panda, but you don't need to be a power lifter to strength train.
If you are a woman in your late 40's to early 50's, there are a slew of problems that can result from perimenopause, and most of your doctors will just ignore them, or ignore the fact that you are in menopause. Besides the symptoms everyone knows about (hot flashes, weight gain and vaginal dryness) you may experience anxiety, mood swings, migraines, insomnia, joint and muscles pain, memory lapses and difficulty concentrating. And I'm pretty sure this is not a complete list. Talk to your doctor about ways to mitigate these problems, which can include diet changes, exercise, and meditation, as well as hormone replacement therapy.
If you are a woman from birth who also happens to have ADHD, the hormonal flux from perimenopause and menopause is going to increase your ADHD symptoms, as ADHD is greatly impacted by our hormones.
Overly controlling what you eat may be worse for your health than any ingredient(s) you’re trying to avoid.
A sedentary lifestyle is bad for you even if you’re a healthy BMI range. Get yourself moving.
If you do not exercise when you are young, you will end up exercising double when you are old because you will have so many orthopedic problems and be seeing a physical therapist weekly.
If you have hearing loss you need to treat it sooner than later as it is a leading cause of dementia risk/ Alzheimer’s / cognitive decline and hearing aids have shown to cut cognitive decline by nearly 50% per a recent Johns Hopkins study.
There is zero reason for you to know your blood type. If you need blood products, you will be typed every time. Those dumb patches that cops wear with their blood type are useless. We will type them too, regardless of the dumb patch.
Very few people, almost none, have rolling veins. That's an excuse someone told you because they missed and didn't want to take responsibility for missing. If your veins are that rolly, then you probably have connective tissue issues, or you're very elderly and wasting away.
Your dishwasher is not sterile. You can't p**s in any old jelly jar and take it to the lab, just because you ran it through the dishwasher. We aren't rejecting your Cool Whip container to be mean. We are trying to give you the most accurate results that you're paying for.
Fasting for labwork means dont eat. Please take your medicine and drink plenty of water.
Keeping your mind active through constant learning as you get older is just as important as keeping your body active.
Learn a musical instrument. It takes so much of your brain and hand coordination to be competent and it is really fun.
You are super fertile right after giving birth and you CAN get pregnant while breastfeeding. Use protection. Most people are clueless about sexual health.
Ugg, this is still only half right. If you want to have sex, and do not want to get pregnant yes,, use birth control all the time! But no, women are not more likely to get pregnant right after giving birth that at other times. Some poor unfortunate women start ovulating again within a few weeks of giving birth, most won't ovulate for at least 6 months IF they are exclusively breastfeeding, some won't ovulate until they wean entirely even if that's well over a year. If you are the owner a a uterus or wish to have sex with one please take some time to properly educate yourself about reproduction and fertility.
If a man has a positive pregnancy test go to the doctor asap! It's probably cancer.
Pregnancy tests work by detecting human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), a hormone in the blood and urine produced by the developing placenta. Some types of testicular cancer make the same hormone. Using a pregnancy test to detect testicular cancer is not recommended as it's only SOME types of cancer that will be detected. If you hear of a guy having a positive test, get them along to their doctor as soon as possible for a proper test!
The Hepatitis B and HPV vaccines prevent cancer. Hepatitis B is one of the leading causes of liver cancer, and HPV causes multiple oral and genital cancers. Get the vaccines for your kids and get them for yourself if you haven’t. Males and females can both get cancer from these viruses.
Also, Hepatitis B is not only transmitted sexually. You can catch it from a microscopic amount of blood on a surface. Small children are especially at risk because they put everything in their mouths faster than you can always prevent. Plus there’s the horrible possibility of assault. Do not wait to get your children these vaccines until you think they’re “old enough for sexual activity.”
Bonus tip- if the Hep A + B combo vaccine is an option for you, choose that one. Hepatitis A is a potentially deadly gastrointestinal virus.
Had cervical cancer from HPV. Get the vaccine. Nobody should have to go through what I went through if it’s preventable
Humans have a strong need for touch and connection. Touch is a fundamental human need and can be critical for maintaining wellbeing, as well as providing comfort and improving quality of life. Skin-to-skin contact can have numerous positive effects, including reducing stress hormones, strengthening social bonds, and boosting the immune system. Even the simple act of hugging can release oxytocin, the "love hormone," which creates a sense of well-being and connectedness.
Your brain is you. Even though it is completely encased in darkness, it interprets the whole world for you and makes you you. Everything else is just scaffolding.
I don’t completely agree with this. The body is so much more than scaffolding. Just think: anything your body does, including what you put into it, determines how well your brain functions. Brain and body are part of the same system. It’s also not encased in darkness: every nerve ending and sensory experience feeds directly into your brain.
Paying attention to what you eat is important, but more so when living with diabetes. Many of my diabetic patients have not been provided with adequate education on nutrition in general.
Many are often surprised to discover:
1) non-diet soda has calories
2) non-diet soda has sugar and will contribute to elevated blood sugar
3) a single meal from a fast food restaurant may exceed their recommended daily calories for the day
More importantly:
The pins and needles feeling (neuropathy) in your toes and fingers is literally your peripheral nervous system dying off as a result of poor blood sugar control. If it’s happening in your distal extremities, it’s also happening in your brain.
This is detectable on MRI and will eventually go on to result in a vascular neurocognitive disorder (dementia).
*screams in orthopedics* the stress on your knee is equivalent to approximately 4x your body weight during walking. Body weight matters to your joint. It matters especially much if most of your weight you carry is not in joint supporting musculature.
Running ruined my legs. My doctor told me that in my early thirties. In fact, his exact words were, "there's no telling you runners anything, you'll keep running." Sorry for not listening, Dr. Fey!
If you have *any* vaginal bleeding after menopause see your doctor. It could be cancer. .
I'd like to expand this to 'if you have any vaginal bleeding outside of menstruation or something that is normal for you, go to a doctor'.
Skinny does not equal healthy. Too many people are more worried about the number on the scale than the overall health of their body. Sure, you may be a size 2, but how are your hair, skin, and nails? What about your teeth and bones? Liver and kidneys?
I'm a size 12-14 and as a girl of the 90s I constantly feel too big, especially when I go clothes shopping and have to get an XL. But, I'm super athletic: I lift weights 3x a week, walk every day, am part of a running group, and play a 90 min soccer game weekly in an adult league. I also love veggies so I eat a lot of salads. I'm almost 40 and take 0 medications, and have no chronic pain to speak of. I feel really healthy, but it sucks when according to the label on my clothes, I'm Jabba the Hut.
Having worked at a vet: a majority of cat bites are gonna go septic if untreated. Go to urgent care for antibiotics.
Also: obesity in pets is more of a concern than in humans, because of differences in body fat distribution. Most animals gain fat around their organs first and then start gaining a layer of fat under the skin, whereas humans gain a majority of our fat under the skin (this is an oversimplification, but that's the gist of it).
Most people don’t die the way they want to. Talk to your parents and grandparents about what they would want at the end of their life. Sit down with them and make an Advanced Directive. Keep a copy. Give a copy to their doctors. There is a big difference between a “good” death and a “bad” death and often that difference could be bridged just by knowing what someone wants ahead of time.
Things to know:
- Would you ever want to be intubated? (Have a tube down your throat for a machine to breathe for you, you are usually sedated and unconscious.) what if you aren’t able to breathe on your own after a few weeks with the tube? Would you want it removed, or to stay on it indefinitely?
- Would you ever want to be shocked or have chest compressions that will probably break your ribs if your heart stopped or wasn’t working? Or would you prefer to die naturally if your heart stopped?
- If you couldn’t eat for yourself, would you want a tube to feed you? Would you want to try that for a short period (1-2 weeks) to allow for recovery and remove it if you weren’t able to eat or communicate by then?
- If you became severely ill and it looked like you would never recover to communicate with is meaningfully, would you want to focus on comfort and quality of life instead of amount of time you are alive?
- Would you ever want an amputation?
- Do you have any plans for your body if you were to die?
This needs to be SO much higher. I have an AD and my parents have PoA (for health only) to enforce it (if it's needed it's not unlikely they'll still be around). And mum and I have had several frank conversations and I know her feelings in detail, and we are both confident in my ability to make decisions aligning with her wishes. My dad is unable to actually psychologically address these issues (as in he has a mental block) which is frustrating and scary.
Ortho: That your fat a*s causes most of your health problems and your feelings getting hurt doesn't change that fact. One reason we have BMI cutoffs before many of our joint replacements/spines is because there's no point to do them otherwise.
Also don't tell us to do everything to keep your 98year old multiple comorbidity frail grannie alive with no DNR. I bench heavy and have a strong grip. That means her ribs are breaking during chest compressions and almost all of the time she's still not going to make it. Treat your family with dignity.
I do not care how many times this gets downvoted, "healthy at any size" is a fantasy. The fact that an obese person at 20-25 appears healthy, has nothing to do with the long term effects of being obese. As the obesity rate in the U.S has risen from 13.6% in 1960, to 44% today, the rate of type 2 diabetes has increased 95x. From 200,000 cases, to over 38 million, with another 140 million people being classified as "pre-diabetic" Heart disease, fatty liver disease, lung disease, kidney disease, stroke, joint issues, cogitative decline, depression and other mental health disorders, hormone imbalances and a myriad of cancers are all directly related to obesity. It does not matter how offended you are, that's the reality. If YOU are aware of the consequences and willing to live with them, you do you....the issue that so many people have is that many people aren't aware of those consequences....because so many people are amplifying the "healthy at any size narrative"
You probably don’t know s**t about the hymen, even if you think you do.
Even in medical communities I see references to the hymen being analogous to the protective film on an iPad when you buy one, and I want to clear up some common myths and misconceptions about the hymen. The hymen is not a magical freshness seal over the vagina that many people think it is.
The hymen is a [thin rim of stretchy tissue (NSFW)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymen#/media/File:Yorefzvagnl.png) that surrounds (but doesn't usually obstruct) the entrance to the vagina. [Another NSFW image](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Hakan_Kar/publication/221916192/figure/fig2/AS:305122233077771@1449758217923/Prepubertal-hymen.png) And [another](https://edc2.healthtap.com/ht-staging/user_answer/avatars/2451834/large/Intact_hymen.jpeg?1450491804). These are considered "intact" hymen, showing no obvious tears or damage. Some women have very little noticeable hymen, and some are born without one at all.
I know what you're thinking, "If it's not a virginity freshness seal, what the hell is it for?" Great question! It's thought that the hymen may serve its purpose early in life, providing an extra tissue barrier to prevent fecal bacteria from getting into the vagina during infancy and childhood. In children the hymen is a thicker and less flexible ring, and may (or may not) obstruct more of the opening of the vagina (again, not generally covering it completely). As it is less flexible in childhood, trauma to the vaginal area through sports, gymnastics, horseback riding, and other normal activities can damage the hymen early in life, and even sometimes later in adolescence or adulthood, but less often.
These tears may heal completely, or result in "notching" of the tissue. This is a super NSFW medical photo of a young person who experienced sexual assault and trauma to the hymen resulting in [notching](https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S1522840116300404-gr2.jpg). This doesn't always cause visible damage, but in this case, pretty severe tearing occurred.
It's also worth noting that the sports and activities I mentioned are more likely than others to cause hymenal damage, but usually don't. (A good friend of mine was quite surprised at an ob/gyn visit to discover she had an intact hymen at ~24 years of age, having been a competitive horseback rider since she was a small child.)
During adolescence the hymen thins out and becomes very flexible and stretchy, and will actually stretch really well during arousal and when lubricated, so there is NO NEED in like 90% of women for the hymen to tear during sex, even the first time!
There are certain variations that can be problematic for sexual activity and general health ([for example, imperforate hymens are medically dangerous and result in an inability to have penetration AND a buildup of menses, and semi-imperforate or cribriform hymen may allow menses but won't allow penetration, these hymen require either tearing or a quick ob/gyn visit to fix](http://girlsliteracydictionary.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/7/0/13702939/2593796_orig.jpg)). However, more than 90% of women do not have these variations.
A lot of this wasn't even known until a series of studies in the 1980's found that about 20% of sexually active women had "intact" hymens with no signs of notching or tearing. A report by physicians who [evaluated children and women who were vaginally assaulted noted that a lack of specific hymenal damage in the assault was actually quite common,](https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1169/682f85204f59bee6da18d93fc08a05bbb1cb.pdf) especially in adult women and adolescents, and suggested to the public that tearing the hymen was not the necessity for sex that many people think it is.
A more recent study in 2004 found that [52% of sexually active women had no hymenal notching or clefts.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14993089) In several studies afterward there was also found to be [no statistically significant association between tampon use and visible hymenal tears,](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8021768) however it is thought that using tampons can sometimes cause tears. (I mean who is actually aroused and comfortable when inserting a tampon, right?)
It's common for people to believe the myth that the hymen must tear the first time, and for young inexperienced people to have sex without proper arousal, lubrication, and communication that results in hymen tearing. In fact, the expectation of pain often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, with women too nervous to be aroused properly, and unwilling to stop and slow down their partners when something hurts.
You might be thinking "well this is some liberal b******t propaganda if I've ever heard any", but if that's your thought, [check out this super biased religious journal article regarding the hymen](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260578888_Hymen_Facts_and_conceptions), which actually confirms most of this, and adds some interesting tidbits, for example the fact that elephants have been noted to have hymens as well, and these don't tear with sex, but only with childbirth.
Dentures suck a*s. They really really suck. And dental implants are extremely expensive. You're not going to 'replace all your teeth with implants'. Trust me, you're not. Even a set up where you have large bridges and a few implants is going to cost you about $40,000-60,000. Save your teeth. Root canals are not mysterious. They're removing infected tissue out of a tooth and placing an inert filling material in its place. It can get re-infected just like a tooth can get infected for the first time, but it's not causing all sorts of zany s**t like some show on netflix claims.
WHY is dental work so expensive? I need an itemized breakdown.
The distance between your molars and your brain is about three inches. So take good care of your teeth, trust me you don't want an infection that close to the brain stem and temporal lobe.
Our bodies are meant to move. You would be suprised not only how quickly your body adopts to it but also how just the act of moving can lead to some chronic injuries decrease or even disappear. Now I'm not saying this is catch all situation. But doing something is better than nothing and it will most definitely be better than sitting or lying all day.
My father in law has a bad hip. He's walked with a limp his whole life. It has not stopped him from being active and seeing the world. Our family took a trip with him last week where we walked a lot. Since he is retired he doesn't move as much as he used to, but he said the week of walked actually greatly helped his leg.
Are you or your kids peeing more than usual? Can't get enough to drink? Feeling tired or extra hungry? Check for diabetes. The early symptoms can be easily explained away until you or your child becomes quite sick!
Please, wash your bellybutton. Especially if you're going to have surgery anywhere near it. If you only saw the things that come out of them. Thank you!
Sleep tech here. Just because you are in great health and normal BMI DOES NOT MEAN you can’t have sleep apnea!
We have so many people come in for sleep studies and say “yeah I’m tired all the time and snore but I’m in great shape and don’t think it’s sleep apnea related”. That does not matter. You can have a small airway or a crowded airway with adenoids/tonsils or certain medications or health issues can cause your airway to block off in your sleep.
On the flip side, while its seldom but I have had 300 and 400 lbs patients never have sleep apnea or issues breathing.
Also, can physicians please stop telling patients that their sleep apnea will go away if they lose weight and achieve normal BMI? I get the idea and that it can help lessen sleep apnea. But then we have patients lose 100 lbs+ or return to normal weight range and still have sleep apnea. And they become visibly upset. They’re happy it’s better but a physician explicitly saying their sleep apnea will go away and they will never have to wear CPAP once they reach normal weight range is terrible advice. Sometimes it won’t matter. Of course, patients can misinterpret doctors but I’ve heard it so many times I think it’s being said at least from some patients.
I think it is being said, yes. I was told the snoring was because of sleep apnea, so I was tested, and it is not, but no one suggested any other tests.
If you eat generally healthy, drink plenty of water and limited other beverages, and get 30-60 minutes of exercise (anything that gets you moving and your heart rate up), you can have a tremendous impact on chronic conditions. In many cases, it will impact outcomes as much as, if not more than medication management.
If you're thinking something like "ow...my knee has been feeling weird lately...not everyone feels this way right?" even after being told "everyone feels that way", there's probably something going on.
Arthrosis is the most common knee complaint and while for some surgery is eventually needed, some good upper leg strengthening exercise goes a long way to prevent (further) damage. Important to remember is keeping your knees perpendicular to your ankles and try to put the weight on your leg muscles and feet rather than your knees.
Infectious disease doc. There is a LOT of misinformation surrounding UTIs in adults, including among nurses and other medical staff. I've seen too many people get inappropriate antibiotics for "oh it's just a UTI" over years and then they land up in my office for a very resistant bacteria in their urine that can now only be treated by very specialized, hard to get IV antibiotics.
White blood cells or bacteria in your urine WITHOUT any symptoms is NOT A UTI. Checking a urine sample for an infection in the absence of symptoms leads to lots of misdiagnoses- some folks have white blood cells or bacteria in their urine ...just because. Unless you're pregnant or expecting a urinary tract surgery in the upcoming weeks, we do not treat it.
Incontinence ALONE is not a sign of a UTI. Lots of other reasons to have incontinence, including pelvic floor dysfunction.
Confusion ALONE in the elderly is not a sign of UTI. I see too many confused and sleepy old folks brought in from their nursing homes for "UTI" by staff. Most times, hydration alone fixes the problem.
Foul smelling urine ALONE is not a sign of UTI. It's pee, not rose water.
Dark urine is not a sign of UTI. Far too many people don't drink enough water and think dark yellow urine means they have an infection.
If you have dark or foul smelling urine, try increasing your water intake and see if that changes. If you start having burning when you pee or abdominal pain, def could be a sign of an infection and see a doctor.
If you want to lose weight, don't eat so much. Exercise has its own benefits, but you're not going to lose weight by exercising and then eating a bunch of late night snacks.
Actually, most dieticians I know recommend eating MORE. Not more calories, of course, but more volume-wise. Healthy food - fruit, veggies, wholegrain etc, you can eat a LOT and still lose weight, AND get all the nutrients, fiber etc you need. And, it's also smarter mentally - the brain can't comprehend "no"-commands. If you tell yourself "don't eat ice cream", your brain just starts to plan to eat ice cream (well, mine does). But if you tell yourself "I have to eat these nuts and yogurt and fruit", you're focusing your brain on the task at hand, not the one you want to avoid! If that makes sense...
Don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t do d***s, don’t be fat, don’t be sedentary. Nothing has changed. There are no magic bullets yet.
Women have 3 holes down there.
The number of people -including grown women- who don’t know this is astounding.
One of the millions of reasons we need scientifically accurate, age-appropriate sex education in our public schools. Right-wing idiots who think abstinence-only is adequate are doing an enormous disservice to young people.
Idk if this counts really but I've been working as a nurses aid for the past decade. Urinary incontinence, while common, is not just a part of aging. There's usually an underlying cause and you should speak with your doctor on ways to help it.
Vague. Well, at least the poor condition of the pelvic floor muscles or overexertion (if you exercise a lot) can be the reason you can't hold back. In men, poor condition can also slow down and make it difficult to release. It would be nice if the reasons were listed.
Clearing your throat can make you feel like you need to clear your throat even more. if you find yourself constantly clearing your throat, it maybbr due to chronic inflammation and irritation. it is important to rule out other sources of irritation (like post nasal drip or acid reflux), but if it is due to an irritation loop you can be seen by a special speech and swallowing therapist to help with the issue.
Nicotine can be transferred through skin contact and even clothes.
In other words, be conscious of the fact that smoking outside etc is not enough if you want to prevent nicotine exposure to your baby/kid.
Basic care of your body is the most underrated thing eat healthy ,exercise and sleep well. Every single one of them are needs not a luxury.
Mental health is real. Please seek help if you have issues !!
Basic first aid and CPR.
How to keep wounds clean and prevent contamination.
Also I really wish all of the medical misinformation out there would go away somehow.
Vapes are not a safe / better alternative to smoking. Get the wrong one and it can f**k you up for life.
Yep, vaping can cause major health problems https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/can-vaping-damage-your-lungs-what-we-do-and-dont-know-2019090417734
Please do resistance training now and always -obviously to a safe degree when older- this will delay age related atrophy and will keep you mobile at an older age.
Being mobile at an older age is a huge component for living an independent and healthy life!
By the time pre diabetes progresses to diabetes over 50% of your pancreatic beta cells (insulin producing cells) can have burnt out already (they don’t come back). Don’t brush off a pre diabetes diagnosis even if your doctor keeps saying “let’s watch it” and suggest half hearted lifestyle changes. Ask to see a dietitian or diabetes educator and take care of your one body. Once it fails it fails and there’s no going back, it’s just damage control at that point.
You're vitamin D deficient.
Don't self-medicate though by gobbling up over the counter Vitamin D supplements unsupervised. Too high Vitamin D levels over a prolonged time will result in hypercalcemia. Have your GP prescribe the supplement's concentration, schedule and length of treatment and follow his advice.
Sugary drinks (Monster, Redbull, coffee) aren’t nearly as bad for your teeth as you would think. They are bad for your heart though.
Sedentary lifestyle is bad
The benefits of losing just 10% of your weight if you’re overweight obese etc can be tremendous on your cholesterol, joint health, cardiovascular health, mental well being.
Avoid trampolines.
I always cross to the other side of the street whenever I see a trampoline coming towards me.
75% of health conditions would be solved or not have occurred with a healthy diet, enough sleep, enough exercise and enough water.
99.99999% of “healthy food” in packages at the grocery store is just advertising. Pick foods that are primary fruits and vegetables and unprocessed whole grains.
Added sugar isn’t great. Honey and agave instead of sugar is still pretty much just sugar.
Processed meats are not great. Meat in general is probably not great.
There really isn’t any healthy alcohol (sorry about that, red wine).
Pay attention to the carbs on the nutrition label. “Healthy” ingredients with a bunch of added sugar is just pretend healthy candy.
Yes. And plan for when your body gets weak. My parents refused to get a staircase elevator installed, the bathroom adapted and wheelchairs delivered when both could not walk and stand stable anymore. Despite this is all funded by our health care system. Since 5 years discusdions and fights, because they do not want to come over as old. Instead of spending another couple of years in their beloved house, he fell from the stairs, result brain damage. She cannot take care of both of them, home care is not possible with this stage of disability. Both are now in a nursing facility and crying every day. And I am drowning in paperwork.
Most of these would be better if they explained why. Without that, they're just assertions.
I know plenty of stuff, as I’ve been in & out of hospitals most of my life & I absorb medical knowledge like a sponge. For example; if your breath smells fruity without having ate or drank anything with fruit, get your blood glucose & maybe your ketone levels checked, as you could be suffering hyperglycaemia or even ketoacidosis, which is a medical emergency you do NOT want to ignore! Also, don’t put off emptying your bladder when necessary, as a UTI can lead to sepsis & that sepsis can easily rupture your bowel … & if your urine is really dark, like cola; you might want to get your kidneys checked, as it may be a sign of kidney failure (I only know this because I developed sepsis just like that & my mum noticed the colour of my “output”, which did turn out to be my kidneys failing … but unfortunately they sent me home & I almost died as a result). I only share all this, hoping it’ll help someone. 🙂🤷♀️
Here's an unpopular one. Doctors overprescribing opioids was a problem, not an epidemic. DEA creating a false narrative to save jobs and threatening every single doctor who, in turn, cut off a bunch of non-criminal people who were addicted led to a fentanyl spike that is killing many, many people daily and is now the true epidemic. (If you have GP doctor that was practicing 10 years ago, ask them if they ever had a DEA visit). TLDR a bunch of cops, in an effort to save jobs, interfered with the doctor/ patient relationship and inadvertently created a worse d**g epidemic than crack in the 80s.
Yes. And plan for when your body gets weak. My parents refused to get a staircase elevator installed, the bathroom adapted and wheelchairs delivered when both could not walk and stand stable anymore. Despite this is all funded by our health care system. Since 5 years discusdions and fights, because they do not want to come over as old. Instead of spending another couple of years in their beloved house, he fell from the stairs, result brain damage. She cannot take care of both of them, home care is not possible with this stage of disability. Both are now in a nursing facility and crying every day. And I am drowning in paperwork.
Most of these would be better if they explained why. Without that, they're just assertions.
I know plenty of stuff, as I’ve been in & out of hospitals most of my life & I absorb medical knowledge like a sponge. For example; if your breath smells fruity without having ate or drank anything with fruit, get your blood glucose & maybe your ketone levels checked, as you could be suffering hyperglycaemia or even ketoacidosis, which is a medical emergency you do NOT want to ignore! Also, don’t put off emptying your bladder when necessary, as a UTI can lead to sepsis & that sepsis can easily rupture your bowel … & if your urine is really dark, like cola; you might want to get your kidneys checked, as it may be a sign of kidney failure (I only know this because I developed sepsis just like that & my mum noticed the colour of my “output”, which did turn out to be my kidneys failing … but unfortunately they sent me home & I almost died as a result). I only share all this, hoping it’ll help someone. 🙂🤷♀️
Here's an unpopular one. Doctors overprescribing opioids was a problem, not an epidemic. DEA creating a false narrative to save jobs and threatening every single doctor who, in turn, cut off a bunch of non-criminal people who were addicted led to a fentanyl spike that is killing many, many people daily and is now the true epidemic. (If you have GP doctor that was practicing 10 years ago, ask them if they ever had a DEA visit). TLDR a bunch of cops, in an effort to save jobs, interfered with the doctor/ patient relationship and inadvertently created a worse d**g epidemic than crack in the 80s.
